Calamity John

Come lovers, come loners, remember yourselves

As lusty tempestuous fools

When your dream was to conquer an ocean

From your small secretarial pools

When you stood at the gulf of unknowing

When you saw the great tundra of time

And you cried for the winds to come blowing

And you called a monsoon from the tides of the moon

'cause the roads were all dusty and dry

Come lame dancing lonely tonight

When what should appear in the distance

Blown hither and yon it's calamity john

And he's coming to sweep you away---aye I aye ayy

He'll tear through the homefront, he'll lift you up laughing

He'll blow every signpost away

As the weather report says high drama

With a five percent chance that he'll stay

Now the floor starts to rock and the roof floats

And your friends say he's bad for your health

And they've warmed you about him on talk shows

So you told him to pack, hit the road, don't come back

And he says hey "don't flatter yourself" ....and you say.....

I am closing my door to the storm

I am saving myself from it's freedom

I have put the chain on, oh calamity john

I don't want you to dance me away---aye I aye ayy

So it's seven months later you've bolted your hair back

You're almost immune to the moon

And at parties you stay in the kitchen

Common sense with a big wooden spoon

All at once you can feel the storm coming

As you burst out into the old refrain

To the sound of america drumming

Call it pain, call it art, call it open your heart

Let it go let it fly, let it rain(oh yeah)

He smiles and the clouds turn to black

With the wind through the flowers come blowing

The warning bell's on, "what's your name, oh it's john",

That's such an unusual name---aye I aye ayy